Parcel - November 2008 - (Page 31) industry news from mark taylor carrier’s contract programmed, your shipping technology is not providing the rate that you pay. The consequence is that it is making bad decisions. You need to make sure that your shipping technology is utilizing the rates you are paying. One of the most effective means of accomplishing this is to implement a system that compares what your shipping system computed as the cost (or what you expected to pay) to the actual invoice you receive from the carrier and provides you with reports on any discrepancies. Many shippers use freight-auditing firms to check the accuracy of their carrier invoices, but this does not solve the problem. The majority of shippers charge their customers shipping costs based on the amounts provided by their shipping system, not on the actual invoices from their carriers. You want reports that detail transactions where the expected costs deviate from the actual carrier invoice costs, including address corrections, residential surcharges, delivery area surcharges, dimensional weight charges, duplicate charges, parcels that were manifested but not shipped, unauthorized account usage, and other exceptions. It is like balancing your checkbook; you want to compare what you entered as the amount of a check with the amount the bank deducted. An additional benefit to a system that reports on exceptions from what you expected to pay, compared to what you actually paid, is the analysis you can perform on your shipping operation. For example, when you are shopping for the best shipping rate, you want to compare delivery times and costs. An analysis can show that you are paying premium prices for second-day service to ZIP Codes the carrier already ships to the next day with ground service, at half the cost. Therefore, you want to make sure your shipping system is comparing all the delivery dates and times from multiple carriers. Ever since Deep Blue, the IBM chess computer, beat the world chess champion, Gary Kasparov, in 1996, it has been easy to assume that computers are smarter than people. Yet, as easy as computers have made our lives, if they are not programmed properly, they can create losses that can cost us plenty. Make sure your computer is helping you make smart decisions. Mark A. Taylor, DLP, is an author, speaker, and business consultant. With three decades of experience, he has met with thousands of parcel shippers. He has been featured as an industry expert on ABC News and in the New York Times, and is the author of Computerized Shipping Systems: Increasing Profit & Productivity Through Technology. Taylor was named a Distinguished Logistics Professional (DLP) by the American Society of Transportation & Logistics in recognition of the contributions he has made to the field of logistics during his 30-year career. He can be contacted at 212-867-5849 or at Mark@myshippingcoach.com. Location, Sortation, Distribution A One Stop Shop! Specializing in DDU, SCF, and BMC distribution for mail consolidators, printing companies, and zone skipping shippers. Locations New York New Jersey Boston Philadelphia Florida Las Vegas Services Warehousing Sorting Capabilities Cross dock EDI & eVS Route Distribution Multi Classification For more information please contact: Rob at 800-440-1237 ext. 7341. or email: sales@atlanticentral.com www.atlanticentral.com www.PARCELindustry.com November 2008 31 Please visit us: http://www.PARCELindustry.com
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